Shepparton recovers water for the environment and improves agricultural productivity

Situation

Over-extraction of water from the Murray River has led to the degradation of many areas of significant environmental value along the river’s 1,500 miles. The river basin is also home to an agricultural area that produces over one-third of Australia’s food supply.

The Living Murray program was established to restore health to key areas of the river system through environmental water recovery, while balancing this with the competing need for sustainable agricultural production. A key focus of the program was the modernization of inefficient irrigation infrastructure.

The Shepparton Irrigation Area, typical of many areas in the basin, lost 30% of the water it diverted from the river during transmission. It also provided a poor service to irrigators, which resulted in inefficient on-farm water use. The main problems included:

Conservative (generous) canal regulation and manually controlled check regulators resulted in water in excess of farmers' needs being spilt out the end of the canal system

These same practices caused oscillating canal water levels resulting in inconsistent flows through turnouts. This increased wastage through excess soil infiltration and runoff

Inflexible operations that required water to be ordered four days in advance meant that farmers could not easily get water to crops when needed

Infrequent and inaccurate flow measurement made good canal management impossible

Inaccurate metering and leakage at turnouts led to inequitable distribution

Difficulty in identifying sections of canal that experienced high leakage

Customer profile

Goulburn-Murray Water (G-MW)

The Shepparton Irrigation Area is one of six gravity districts managed by Goulburn-Murray Water. It has over 435 miles of canals and 25 miles of pipeline servicing 2,500 customers. Up to 120,000 acre-feet of water is diverted annually from the Goulburn River, a major Murray River tributary.

The Living Murray

The Living Murray is a government environmental water conservation program which aims to transfer 400,000 acre-feet of water from consumptive use to six internationally significant wetlands, lakes and floodplains along the Murray River.

Situation

Over-extraction of water from the Murray River has led to the degradation of many areas of significant environmental value along the river’s 1,500 miles. The river basin is also home to an agricultural area that produces over one-third of Australia’s food supply.

The Living Murray program was established to restore health to key areas of the river system through environmental water recovery, while balancing this with the competing need for sustainable agricultural production. A key focus of the program was the modernization of inefficient irrigation infrastructure.

The Shepparton Irrigation Area, typical of many areas in the basin, lost 30% of the water it diverted from the river during transmission. It also provided a poor service to irrigators, which resulted in inefficient on-farm water use. The main problems included:

Conservative (generous) canal regulation and manually controlled check regulators resulted in water in excess of farmers' needs being spilt out the end of the canal system

These same practices caused oscillating canal water levels resulting in inconsistent flows through turnouts. This increased wastage through excess soil infiltration and runoff

Inflexible operations that required water to be ordered four days in advance meant that farmers could not easily get water to crops when needed

Infrequent and inaccurate flow measurement made good canal management impossible

Inaccurate metering and leakage at turnouts led to inequitable distribution

Difficulty in identifying sections of canal that experienced high leakage

Customer profile

Goulburn-Murray Water (G-MW)

The Shepparton Irrigation Area is one of six gravity districts managed by Goulburn-Murray Water. It has over 435 miles of canals and 25 miles of pipeline servicing 2,500 customers. Up to 120,000 acre-feet of water is diverted annually from the Goulburn River, a major Murray River tributary.

The Living Murray

The Living Murray is a government environmental water conservation program which aims to transfer 400,000 acre-feet of water from consumptive use to six internationally significant wetlands, lakes and floodplains along the Murray River.

Solution

The Living Murray funded the modernization of the Shepparton Irrigation Area in return for a portion of water recovered through improvements in delivery efficiency. The core of the project involved implementing Rubicon’s Demand-Integrated Network Control solution throughout the majority of the district’s channel network as well as rationalisation of underutilised assets, some channel remediation and some pipelining.

Rubicon’s Demand-Integrated Network Control solution is one of a range of solutions built from our TCC® (Total Channel Control®) technology. The Shepparton solution involved:

Expansion of the radio telemetry network to encompass the new regulators and turnouts

A radio node and FlumeGates regulating the
East Goulburn Main canal

Automated SlipGate turnouts

Automating customer-facing operations

Rubicon’s software enables Shepparton customers to place water orders via internet or phone, 24 hours a day, and they now benefit from a system that can supply water with as little as one hour’s notice. On receipt of an order, the software automatically manages all aspects of planning and scheduling, from verifying that the customer is entitled to the requested water, through to instructing the farmer’s turnout to open and close at the allotted time and requested flow rate. Actual usage is automatically measured and recorded and made available on the internet and phone to help customers manage their water better.

Automating canal regulation

Using a radio telemetry network, Shepparton’s FlumeGates are in constant communication with adjoining FlumeGates and with a central server, sharing their accurate measurements of levels and flows in real time.

NeuroFlo software uses this information and detailed mathematical models of hydraulic behavior in each reach to coordinate the control all the FlumeGates in the network. Only the exact amount of water required to meet downstream needs is released. By matching delivery with demand, spills are eliminated and water level fluctuations are minimized resulting in consistent high flows for farmers.

Solution

The Living Murray funded the modernization of the Shepparton Irrigation Area in return for a portion of water recovered through improvements in delivery efficiency. The core of the project involved implementing Rubicon’s Demand-Integrated Network Control solution throughout the majority of the district’s channel network as well as rationalisation of underutilised assets, some channel remediation and some pipelining.

Rubicon’s Demand-Integrated Network Control solution is one of a range of solutions built from our TCC® (Total Channel Control®) technology. The Shepparton solution involved:

Expansion of the radio telemetry network to encompass the new regulators and turnouts

A radio node and FlumeGates regulating the
East Goulburn Main canal

Automated SlipGate turnouts

Automating customer-facing operations

Rubicon’s software enables Shepparton customers to place water orders via internet or phone, 24 hours a day, and they now benefit from a system that can supply water with as little as one hour’s notice. On receipt of an order, the software automatically manages all aspects of planning and scheduling, from verifying that the customer is entitled to the requested water, through to instructing the farmer’s turnout to open and close at the allotted time and requested flow rate. Actual usage is automatically measured and recorded and made available on the internet and phone to help customers manage their water better.

Automating canal regulation

Using a radio telemetry network, Shepparton’s FlumeGates are in constant communication with adjoining FlumeGates and with a central server, sharing their accurate measurements of levels and flows in real time.

NeuroFlo software uses this information and detailed mathematical models of hydraulic behavior in each reach to coordinate the control all the FlumeGates in the network. Only the exact amount of water required to meet downstream needs is released. By matching delivery with demand, spills are eliminated and water level fluctuations are minimized resulting in consistent high flows for farmers.

Results

The two year Shepparton modernization project was completed in late 2009 and has resulted in major operational improvements:

Delivery efficiency improved from 70% in the 2007/08 season to 90% in the 2010/11 season

Improved management control and planning with rich, real-time information

Compliance with new metering and reporting regulations demanded by government

Farmers benefiting from a reliable system with delivery almost on-demand, which means they can now maximize the productive output of every galln of water used

Greater water use accountability, transparency and distribution equity for all stakeholders

The 29% improvement in delivery efficiency has resulted in the annual recovery of 32,000 acre-feet of water. Of this, 24,000 acre-feet have been permanently transferred to the Living Murray program for environmental use. This water is retained in storage and is periodically released into the river system in a controlled manner to maximize environmental benefit to downstream wetlands and lakes.

The Living Murray's annual environmental watering plan outlines how the recovered water is used each year and can be downloaded here.

Source of recovered water

The majority of the 32,000 acre-feet recovered was as a result of Rubicon’s canal automation. The other major source of savings came from installing Rubicon’s accurate automated turnouts.

Summary

Results

The two year Shepparton modernization project was completed in late 2009 and has resulted in major operational improvements:

Delivery efficiency improved from 70% in the 2007/08 season to 90% in the 2010/11 season

Improved management control and planning with rich, real-time information

Compliance with new metering and reporting regulations demanded by government

Farmers benefiting from a reliable system with delivery almost on-demand, which means they can now maximize the productive output of every galln of water used

Greater water use accountability, transparency and distribution equity for all stakeholders

The 29% improvement in delivery efficiency has resulted in the annual recovery of 32,000 acre-feet of water. Of this, 24,000 acre-feet have been permanently transferred to the Living Murray program for environmental use. This water is retained in storage and is periodically released into the river system in a controlled manner to maximize environmental benefit to downstream wetlands and lakes.

The Living Murray's annual environmental watering plan outlines how the recovered water is used each year and can be downloaded here.

Source of recovered water

The majority of the 32,000 acre-feet recovered was as a result of Rubicon’s canal automation. The other major source of savings came from installing Rubicon’s accurate automated turnouts.

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